The Secret Girl
by JennaGreenleaf
Summary: There's something major going down on Tracy Island, and no one knows it better than her. She is the secret girl, hidden from even the men whose lives she protects. But when her home is invaded by the malicious Hood, she has no choice but to throw off her illusions and help Alan save her boys. After almost seventy years, it's about time the secret girl to step into the light.
1. Invisible Protector

I do not own Thunderbirds, or any of the characters. I do, however, own her. You'll see what I mean.

Chapter 1— Invisible Protector

Sometimes she sat beside Virgil Tracey on his piano bench, listening as he played for no one but himself. Sometimes she lay on her back in the pool beside Gordon Tracey, watching as he searched the night skies for signs of his brother John. Sometimes she slept at Scott Tracey's side as he tinkered with the insides of Thunderbird 1. Sometimes she watched the stars with John Tracey, learning the constellations as he whispered them to himself. And sometimes her hands ghosted through the tears Alan Tracey shed as his loneliness became too much for him to bear.

Sometimes she led Tin-tin through the jungle, and other times Tin-tin led her. There was something in the way Tin-tin moved that made her sure the girl knew she was there, but Tin-tin could not see her.

Sometimes she talked to Hiram Hackenbacker as if he could hear her—he never could.

Sometimes she sat with Jefferson Tracey in his office after a long rescue, watching as one by one, his boys called on him.

Did you really exist if none could perceive you? Her mother had once told her that she would have a greater calling in life, but this half-life she lived was definitely not what her mother had in mind. Still, she was privy to an amazing family, and she wouldn't change her position for the world. Because someday, she knew, someone would see her. Someone would believe in her. She knew it had to be true.

It had happened before.

%%%%%

She was beside Virgil now, her hands ghosting over his streaked brown hair as he played the piece that had once been his mother's favourite. She enjoyed these moments, in between rescues, before the Traceys became the Thunderbirds.

And they were the Thunderbirds, through and through. It was that she had to stay close to one of the family, and she accompanied them on rescues more often than not.

The only thing that convinced her that she was still human was the fact that she still had the most basic of human needs—she ate, she slept, and she relieved herself just as she had when she was still corporeal. It was harder now, though, and she was sure that at least one person in the family knew of her existence.

Virgil's fingers stilled on the keys, cutting off the music mid-note as a new sound emanated from his wrist. Without a word he packed up the piano and made his way to his father's office, which doubled as Command and Control. She followed, sidestepping Scott as he opened his bedroom door. Gordon joined his brothers, jogging a little to catch up.

She followed. This was what she liked about her life—getting to see the five brothers interacting together. It was not often that she saw them all together. With John up in space more often than not and Alan away at school, the family dynamic was stunted, if not lost completely. Jeff Tracey was a good man and an excellent father, but he sometimes forgot he had five sons, not just the three who lived on the island year-round.

There was a promise on the horizon, however. Brains was due to head up to Thunderbird 5 in a few days to relieve John, and Alan was returning from boarding school for spring break. The entire Tracey family would be together for the first time in almost a year, and she wouldn't feel as if she was being drawn in five different directions.

Speaking of…the inescapable pull that was unique to John drew her out of her thoughts and up, thousands of miles above the surface of the earth into Thunderbird 5. She was pulled to whichever Tracey needed her most. Not her specifically, but the presence she provided, even if they didn't know it. The last little while, she had spent much of her time with Alan. The fifteen-year-old was feeling neglected, but at least he had his best friend, Fermat Hackenbacker with him day and night.

But right now, it was John. Rescues were hard on John, because he did not take a physical part in the event themselves. He was the voice—he talked to the victims, reassured them. Unfortunately, he was sometimes the last voice they heard before they died, and that was a job he did not take lightly.

She looked over John's shoulder after she materialized, reading the screen. A fire at an oil rig in Russia, then. Nothing her boys couldn't handle.

John was listening to his father rattle off orders, "Scott, keep pace with Thunderbird 2. Racing on ahead will not help in this situation. Arm the fire-suppressant rockets. Virgil, Gordon, we'll take Thunderbird 2. Virgil, I'll need you on the rescue platform, so you'll have to consent the controls to your brother and I. John, keep an eye on the situation. What is our ETA?"

"Under two hours. I answered the distress call."

"Excellent, John," she could imagine what her boys were doing, stepping into the lifts behind their portraits, "Thunderbirds are go."

She watched the rescue with John, watched as Thunderbird 1 was nearly engulfed in flames, watched as Virgil nearly fell from the rescue platform. Nearly. It seemed that their lives were a series of near misses.

But then they were out, and flying their victims to a hospital in San Francisco, with Virgil patching them up en route. They would be fine, and so would her boys.

"Dad, radar indicates FAB 1 is an hour out from Tracey Island. You can overtake her if you leave now," John said. He no longer needed her, and she was pulled towards Alan. She soon found out why.

Alan was scared. He was terrified that his family would go out on a rescue, and one or more of them would not come back. She longed to comfort him, to tell him right away that his brothers were alright.

When Gordon had had his hydrofoil accident, she had been drawn in so many different directions that she was surprised she hadn't split into six. It was only after Alan had joined his family that she had been able to regain her bearings. Alan was terrified of that happening again, and quite frankly, so was she.

She hadn't been of any use to them then, when they had needed her the most. The event only fueled her belief that the Traceys were meant to stay together—so that they would not split her.

She settled onto the floor of FAB 1, at the feet of Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward. Lady Penelope was one of the only members of the family that she was not bound to, because Lady Penelope did not hold a permanent residence on Tracey Island. She and her manservant, Parker, visited regularly, but Penny had duties in England.

Alan wasn't speaking, not even to Fermat. She read the discarded portions of Lady Penelope's newspaper as she waited for something to happen. She hated that she could not physically influence the brooding teenager. If she could, she would have slapped him upside the head.

He didn't realize how good he had it. He had a family, for one thing, and so many friends. He was a physical being, for goodness sake! He could plead his case, and people would listen to him. He didn't have to wait for no one to need him to sneak off into the jungle in order to relieve himself. He didn't have to go days without eating because Gordon was lamenting his inability to swim, stuck up on Thunderbird 5.

Those days didn't happen very often. Normally she spent a few hours with each brother, and the rest of the hours were hers to wander the island.

"Approaching Tracey Island, my Lady," Parker said, "And radar indicates we have some company."

Lady Penelope looked up, and she followed her line of sight. Thunderbird 1 and Thunderbird 2 filled the view outside both windows.

Alan flashed a huge smile and a thumbs-up at his brother. Scott returned the gesture with a wave of his gloved hand, smiling as well. In Thunderbird 2, Virgil and Gordon were barely visible behind their father. Raising his own gloved hand, Jeff saluted his youngest son.

A little bit of the Alan Tracey that she knew was just under his skin surfaced in Alan's next comment, "I wish that was me."

She wished she could talk to him, wished she could talk to all of them. She'd remind Jeff of all his sons, tell Scott that he could stand to act a little bit more like a kid. She could remind John that although he was very much like his mother, he wasn't her, and he could relax a little. She could talk to Virgil about the anger he sometimes put into his music and paintings, and about how he treated his brothers. She could rein in Gordon when he became too much for Scott to handle, and lift his spirits when he was down. She could tell Alan not to be in such a hurry to grow up, because once he did, he was never getting his childhood back.

Scott, being the flyboy that he was, performed a neat little trick where he looped both FAB 1 and Thunderbird 2, and then both Thunderbird vehicles started their final approach to the island.

%%%%%

It wasn't that much later that she was tucking Virgil into bed. The two-toned Tracey was already asleep, but she was rearranging the covers around him. Virgil was not a morning person. If he kept going at the rate he was, he would get a migraine. Thankfully, he had realized that sleep was his best friend at the moment and retired to his bed shortly after eating. Gordon and Scott were still in the kitchen, and Alan was off with Fermat.

She was worried about Alan. She knew he had to be hungry—he hadn't eaten in a handful of hours, and that was a long time for a Tracey. While all of the Traceys could eat enough to feed two grown men, it was only Alan and Scott that could eat their body weight in one sitting. Alan never missed meals, unless something was really bothering him.

These days, it seemed, every little thing could set him off, however. Every little thing could 'really' bother him. It was driving his brothers and father up the wall. More often than not, one could find one of the Traceys speaking to the heavens, imploring their deceased wife/mother to help them deal with Alan.

A face peered around the doorframe. It was Doctor Lucas Palmer, a longtime friend of Jeff's from his astronaut days. Dr. Palmer was the Tracey's primary physician, as Virgil had yet to be fully qualified.

She stilled her hands, lest Luke realized the thin, cobalt blue sheets were moving of their own accord. Luke smiled and left the doorframe, and she continued until she was pulled away by Alan.

She loved Alan, as she loved all the rest of the Traceys. That was undeniable. But he was difficult, more so than his brothers had been. The only reason she could put her finger on was the saddest.

Alan couldn't remember his mother. He had been too young when she had died, barely four years old. Memories from that age were shaky at best—she didn't remember being four at all, but that had been almost seventy years ago. The other boys did not talk about their mother very much, and that angered Alan. His brothers and father kept what they knew locked up tight, afraid of losing it. They didn't realize that by doing that, they were doing exactly what they had not wanted to do. She had thought that at least John would know better, but he was not much better than his brothers.

She was pulled right into the middle of an argument between Jeff and Alan. There was not much she could do but sit and watch. They couldn't hear her, and she couldn't physically interact with living flesh.

"You're damn right you shouldn't have been in there!"

"But, Dad—"

"Do you not recognize the importance of secrecy in our organization? Alan, you fired up a Thunderbird without activating the anti-detection shield. You put everyone in danger when you act selfishly."

"But, Dad!"

"No buts. You're grounded for the rest of Spring Break. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I understand. I understand that you don't want me to be a Thunderbird. You won't even listen to me when I'm trying to tell you something important!"

"Bottom line, Alan. You need to grow up."

"Then let me!" Alan shot at his father. He turned away, "Please," he mumbled under his breath.

She was torn. Alan was pulling her, but so was Jeff, and even John. In the end, it was Jeff himself who made her decision for her. The small smile he gave when he looked at the picture of his wife and five boys in their snow gear was enough to tell her that he needed to feel a presence right now—Alan just needed to be alone for a while.

"I wish you could see them, Lucy," he muttered, "I wish you were here to help me." The last part was no more than a whisper.

A monitor dinged. John was calling from Thunderbird 5. Jeff called up the image of his second eldest son just as the platinum-blond was rolling into the viewscreen.

"John. Just about to turn in. What can I do for you?"

John held up an energy bar, "I could really use a pizza right now. Know a place that delivers?"

Jeff grinned, "Thirty minutes or it's free, right? What's on your mind, son?"

"Well, we've got a forest fire on Vladivostok, and a typhoon bearing down on Singapore. What's happening on planet Tracey?"

"Alan's home for Spring Break," Jeff said it as if it explained everything, which for the Traceys, it did.

"I thought I saw a storm brewing in your area."

"Teenagers," it was as if the word was a curse.

"Well Dad, we've all been there," gesturing with the energy bar for effect, John continued, "And you've done a great job with us since Mom died."

Jeff's face showed that he didn't really believe John, "Thanks, John. Keep an eye on that typhoon, and I'll call Vladivostok and see if they need help."

"FAB. Thunderbird 5 out."

None of the Traceys needed her badly at the moment, and she urgently needed to relieve herself. Slipping out of the office and down the spiraling staircase, she made her way out into the jungle.

Thankfully, she had never been pulled in the middle of relieving herself. She had, however, been pulled in the middle of bathing. Nakedness meant absolutely nothing when no one could see one in the first place. She had seen the Traceys naked more times than she could count, because when they needed her, a little thing like having clothes on didn't matter.

That tore at her heartstrings. She missed human contact, so much so that it was like a physical ache that permeated her entire being. But she could not touch living flesh—human or animal—until she was granted release from her invisibility.

With one blink, she was on Tracey Island. The next, she was in the familiar console room of John's 'bird, Thunderbird 5. It was not immediately apparent why John had needed her at that very moment, until she heard the computerized voice.

"Impact imminent," it said, and she and John watched the numbers climb from a seventy percent chance of the projectile hitting Thunderbird 5 to a one hundred percent chance.

"Thunderbird 5 to Tracey Island, mayday! May—"John was cut off as he was blasted off his feet. The projectile hit the bird head on, leaving a trail of debris in its wake.

She raced to John's side when the station stopped shaking. John was in a bad way. Activating the emergency switch, she stopped to survey the damage. John had landed just right of the hallway that lead to the living quarters. He'd hit his head and dislocated his shoulder. Added to that was a nifty third-degree burn the size of a tea plate in between his shoulder blades and a large bump on the back of his head, leaking blood into his bleached hair. There may have been more injuries. He would live, of this she was sure, but he needed medical attention.

He was out cold for the moment, but she was stuck on Thunderbird 5, unable to know what was going on down below on the island. She sat next to him, unable to do anything more than just be there for him.

It was times like these that she had failed to anticipate when she had agreed to watch the Traceys. Times like these when she was absolutely useless. She didn't even know what was happening. What had they been hit by? A meteor? No, it had come from the surface of the earth. Something man-made, then. Had the Thunderbirds been the target of a terrorist attack?

It was just under an hour later when John finally stirred. He was barely awake, but he still pushed himself back up the console and attempted to flip the comms switch. His gloved fingers were clumsy, and he missed. She flipped the switch for him, knowing that he would not remember later. He coughed.

"I'm losing all power. Repeat, I'm losing all power."

"Hold on John," Jeff's voice, calm and collected, came over the link, "We're coming in."

John obviously didn't have the strength, so it was her that granted Thunderbird 3 permission to dock. Maybe she wasn't so useless, after all.

After a few minutes, the airlock opened.

"John!" Jeff cried. He raced to his son's side, "Scott, tackle that fire." It was the only fire that she had yet to put out.

Jeff helped John lever himself into a sitting position. John starred up at his father through glassy eyes, "Boy, am I glad to see you."

"Easy, you're hurt. Virgil, take care of your brother. Gordon, get me a damage assessment." Virgil caught John before he collapsed again as Jeff caught up another fire extinguisher and went to help Scott.

Jeff returned to John and Virgil when the fires were out. Virgil had reset John's dislocated shoulder, a process that had drawn a strangled yelp from his older brother, and put the arm into a sling.

"We've got a constant warning light on our EPS systems!" Scott cried.

"Attempt manual override!"

"No, that's a negative!" Scott's voice was nothing short of panic.

"Back to Thunderbird 3," Jeff ordered. He bent down and lifted John, "Sorry John, got to move."

Gordon was already standing by the airlock. He turned back to his father and brothers, "The locking mechanism jammed."

Something that none of them had anticipated happened right then. An overhanging screen flickered to life, displaying a middle-aged, bald Malaysian man in an elaborately embroidered red kimono, "Attention Thunderbird 5. As you can see, I have taken over your facilities. You no longer control your operational systems."

The man in the kimono proceeded to introduce himself as 'the Hood' and lay out his plans in great detail.

Huh. He may have found Tracey Island and the Thunderbirds, but this man was a great fool. She needed to get down to the island.

She spotted her chance when Kyrano and Onaha were brought in by the goons. Their need of her, combined with Brains and the children's, was just enough to bring her down from space.

She materialized just as it was revealed that the Hood was Kyrano's brother.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Tracey," Kyrano said as he was shoved into the camera's viewscreen, "I thought he was dead."

The Hood grinned, and his pupils narrowed into slits like that of a cat. Kyrano collapsed, clutching his head.

"Get out of his head!" She cried, forgetting that no one could hear her. Finally, something she could help with!

The Hood pulled out of his brother's head and looked around, "There is someone else here," he stated, "Someone that we cannot see. Come out, come out, wherever you are, little shadow-walker."

She didn't move. Neither did the rest of the room, nor the men on Thunderbird 5.

"I see," the Hood continued, "You are one of them. Well, let's free you from your prison, at the very least. It would be wonderful if we could see every player in the game."

And then he was in her head, lifting what was now her curse. She closed her eyes.

And when she opened them, people who had previously overlooked her stared right at her. There was shock on Brain's face, and the expression was mirrored on Kyrano and Onaha's.

The Hood spoke, "Well, well, shadow walker. How long have you been bound to the Traceys?"

She stared at him, "Why would I tell you that?" her voice was rough from disuse, "You come into my home and attack my family. By what right did you think you could do that?"

"I asked you first."

"You are trespassing in my house; I think you should answer first."

The Hood smirked, "Shall we see how corporeal you really are, Shadow-walker?"

It was her turn to grin, "I have a name. Not that I'll give it to the likes of you. And I am not a Shadow-walker. Would I be protecting this family if I was? Brains, Kyrano, Onaha, I'll be back for you."

The pull of John her boys became too much to bear and she let herself dematerialize. She reformed in front of five shocked Tracey men.


	2. Kalypso

2 – Kalypso

"Can you…can you see me?" she asked tentatively. It was Scott who nodded.

"Who are you?" Jeff asked, "What did the Hood mean?"

"Ahem, evil bald guy intent upon destroying everything you've built?" She pointed at the screen, "Deal with him, then deal with me."

"Do you at least have a name?" Gordon asked her.

"I did at one point. I don't remember it anymore. Lucy called me Kalypso, though, so maybe you could call me that."

"Kalypso. That is a fitting name. Ancient Greek for hidden, right? Tell me, Kalypso, you were bound first to Lucille Tracy, were you not? Until her children were born, and then you were bound to all of them. Am I right?" the Hood continued from the screen.

"Still not going to answer that question, idiot," she spat.

The Hood shot the monitor a quick smile, while he proceeded to lay out his plans in great detail.

"You'll never get away with it!" Scott cried.

"Of course he won't," Kalypso said, "Everyone knows that the villain who lays out their plans to their victims is destined to fail."

"You left me to die that day. You may have broken my body, but you have no idea how strong my mind has become. Now you will suffer. Suffer as I suffered…waiting for a rescue that will never come. Take them away," the Hood continued as if she had never spoken.

The screen went dark, just as Jeff cried out, "Wait!" he turned to Scott, "Scott, status report."

"CO2 levels are rising."

"Alright, wire the oxygen scrubbers to the emergency batteries."

From his position supporting John, Virgil asked, "How long will that give us?"

John spoke in a soft voice, a voice that did nothing to disguise the pain he was in, "About four hours."

John was going to go down again, that she knew. Without recognizing what she was doing, Kalypso covered the distance between Virgil, John, and herself and caught the man just as his knees buckled.

She was so shocked she nearly dropped him. Instead, she lowered the stricken Tracy to the ground with the help of Virgil, reeling back once John was safely on the ground.

"Johnny?" Virgil asked, "Are you alright?"

The second-oldest Tracy smiled at his immediate younger brother and most of the rest of his family over him, "Standing was not agreeing with me. The floor, however, is mighty comfortable. Care to join me?"

Virgil managed a slight chuckle, despite the situation.

"Kalypso, was it?" Jeff asked her. She sat, still as a stalk and didn't even acknowledge him. He knelt beside her.

She nearly bowled them both over with her next movement.

Jeff Tracy looked down at the girl in his arms, sobbing her eyes out and clinging to him as if she'd never been held in her life. Physically, she couldn't have been much older than his son Scott. Her hair was creamy blonde and cropped just below her shoulders. Now her eyes were grey, but he could swear that they had been green when he had first seen her on the monitor.

Gordon spoke, "What's going on?"

Kalypso sat back up, pulling away from Jeff, "It's been a very long time since I was corporeal, Gordon. I have been able to manipulate objects for as long as I have been alive, but the ability to interact with living flesh has been denied to me. That was my choice, but I'll take some allowances after almost seventy years."

"Seventy years of what?" John whispered from the floor.

"Seventy years of watching, seventy years of waiting, seventy years of being the presence that watched over Arabella, Holly, and Lucy from infancy to their deaths. Eleven years of being the presence Lucy requested I be, because her boys needed someone to watch over them, even if she couldn't."

"Watch over us? Then why haven't you prevented us from getting injured over the years? Why did our mother die if she had you to watch over her?"

"I'm not some sort of guardian angel, Scott," she said hotly, "I'm a presence. I am there when I am needed, and I cannot influence the world around me more than creating a few small comforts.

"I watch, until the time that the need for me to be corporeal is greater than the need for me to be invisible. The Hood didn't lift my curse; he just happened to invade my mind just as it was lifting. When someone announces my presence aloud, that is when my curse ends. That is what I agreed to. Now, I'd love to sit and tell you my entire life story—and I will, sometime soon—but Alan needs me now."

She let herself fade, back down to Tracy Island. It was time to make sure Alan was alright.

Kalypso was greeted by a shout of, "I KNEW IT! I knew you were real!" Before she was tackled by a twelve-year-old blur named Tin-tin.

"Not now, Tin-tin," Kalypso whispered, "Where's Alan?"

"He's trying to open the silo."

"That won't do. Scott change the passcode again after Alan's little foray into his bird earlier." She shot a look at Fermat, who failed to smile.

"We can't go this way!" Alan called. His voice was strained, and Kalypso joined him just as he backed out of the tunnel, "He's there."

Fermat, Tin-tin, Alan, and Kalypso backed up until they were directly under Thunderbird 1.

"What are we going to do, Alan?" Fermat cried.

"Hang on. I've got an idea," Alan pulled out his skipper and shot a rock at the Hood. Around behind them, goons covered in green goop converged.

The Hood dodged the rock, and Tin-tin turned to stare at Alan, "_That's_ your idea? Kalypso, what do we do?"

She frowned at the girl beside her, because she trusted Alan's ability to come up with insane ideas that, more often than not, worked, "Tin-tin, let him continue."

The Hood laughed, "Yes, let the child with the fancy slingshot dictate the game."

"This isn't a game, Hood," Kalypso said, "These are people's lives you're playing with, and they are defended."

Again, the Hood let out a short, barking laugh, "Your kind is always so sentimental," he turned his attention once more to Alan, "It's not me you're angry at, Alan."

The smirk on Alan's face was priceless, "It's not you I'm aiming at." Eye-hand coordination born of a lifetime of being Alan Tracy and living in the shadows of the Thunderbirds made his aim true. The second rock hit a large red button on the control panel behind the Hood, and the floor fell out from under their feet.

%%%%%

"A little warning would be appreciated next time, Alan. Fermat could have drowned."

"You're telling me that he lives on an island with Gordon Tracy and he can't swim?"

"I'll repeat what Kalypso said. I could have drowned."

Alan stared at Kalypso, his questions written all over his face.

Kalypso sighed, "Here's the short, condensed version. I was bound to Arabella Munroe when she was an infant. Upon her death, I was bound to her daughter, Holly Carter, until Holly's death. Afterwards, I was bound to Holly's daughter, Lucille Morgan, who gave birth to you and your brothers. Upon her death, as she had no daughters, I became bound to the entire Tracy family, and I have been here ever since. Now, you three are soaked. Let's get you out of those wet clothes."

She stood with Tin-tin while the boys went further up into the rocks.

"Kalypso," Tin-tin asked, "If you're bound to the Tracys, why could I sense you?"

"The same reason the Hood can. The same reason anyone with your powers can. Because you have powers that make you a little extraordinary, as well. And I'm bound to you as well, Tin-tin. You're as good as a Tracy."

Tin-tin grinned at her, "Do you think our boys would object to us leaving now?"

"Let's find out, shall we?"

Tin-tin and Kalypso climbed in the direction Alan and Fermat had headed.

"I said I was sorry, Fermat. Let's just put this behind us. We gotta watch each other's backs," Alan paused, "Nice drawers."

Tin-tin didn't hesitate, and neither did Kalypso.

"Boo!" Tin-tin cried with a smile, popping out from behind a large boulder. Kalypso climbed to the top of the boulder and watched the interactions between Alan, Tin-tin, and Fermat.

Both Alan and Fermat jumped, and Alan held out his hand as if to stop Tin-tin. He really had turned into a well-defined young man, she thought. He wasn't as muscular as his brothers, but he was only fifteen. He wouldn't be fully grown for almost another decade, judging by his father.

"No, Tin-tin, come one, stay there," Alan pleaded.

"You're worse than a couple of girls," the smirk was evident in Tin-tin's voice, if not on her face, "Hurry up and get dressed," she turned to Fermat, tossing Alan his pants, "Those are nice drawers."

"Where's Kalypso?" Alan asked as he jammed his legs into his pants.

Tin-tin turned towards her, but she was gone.

%%%%%

Kalypso didn't control when or where she de and rematerialized. That was controlled by her connection to the Tracy family, and now, another of the Tracys needed her more than Alan, Fermat, and Tin-tin did.

Her boys had moved since she had left them. John was now more upright, his arm in a sling, and Scott and Gordon were working in a slight depression in the floor.

"Kalypso?" Jeff asked, "So, you are real."

Kalypso smiled, "As if you would be that lucky. Alan's fine, by the way. So are Tin-tin and Fermat. Some quick thinking on Alan's part got them down into the silos and then off the compound entirely. If I know Tin-tin, she'll lead the boys into the jungle."

"What?" Jeff said sharply.

"Kalypso, please tell me you did not say what I thought you did." This was courtesy of Virgil, who had rejoined them upon hearing his father speak.

Kalypso sighed, "Tin-tin was born in a country that is over two-thirds rainforest. She's a jungle girl, through and through, and knows Tracy Island like the back of her hand. The only thing the boys have to worry about is the occasional hydrogenous scorpion. Now, the kids are still down there with that lunatic and his groupies, so try not to need me so much."

Her boys sat in silence for a few moments.

"Um, why haven't you faded away yet?" Gordon asked.

"I was called up here because you wanted news from the ground. I've told you all I know. But I can't go back down until someone down their needs me enough to out weight the need that is keeping me here."

"What exactly constitutes as 'enough need' for you to be summoned?" Scott questioned, looking up from his tools in the pit.

"It varies from situation to situation. Usually, it's emotional pain that I respond to, but as your emotional state is much tied to your physical state, I respond to both." She wasn't about to tell them that every time they had needed the presence of their mother, they had gotten her instead. No, that was not something that she would tell them. She would let them realize that on their own. Knowing that what they had thought they felt was not truly what they had felt; it would be heartbreaking. She hoped they at least made it through the day before they realized. She had to choose her words carefully, lest she be rejected by the only ones who could ever accept her.

And just like that, the tie holding her to Jeff was overpowered by the ones connecting her to the kids. The last the five oldest Tracys heard from her was, "I knew I shouldn't have mentioned the scorpions!"

%%%%%

"Hydrogenous scorpion," Tin-tin whispered, her eyes wide.

Alan peered at the invertebrate on his shoulder, "Is that dangerous?"

Fermat joined him, "Point zero two five milligrams of its venom is fatal."

The Tracey snark came out in Alan then, "So dangerous is, in fact, an understatement."

"Tin-tin, aren't you going to deal with that?" Kalypso asked, scaling the rocks above their heads.

Tin-tin's eyes narrowed as she clutched her crystal necklace as Kalypso had seen her do so many times before. The scorpion withered, held in place only by the power of Tin-tin's mind. As it dropped to the rocks, Alan and Fermat jumped back, out of its range.

"Look out!" Fermat cried.

"Poor little thing," Kalypso leapt down amongst the kids, making them jump again, "You scared it. Try not to pick up any more unwanted passengers, Alan."

"I wasn't trying to pick any up in the first place!" He huffed indignantly, "Tin-tin, what was that?"

Tin-tin turned away, "Let's get going."

"Uh, uh, uh," Kalypso stopped Tin-tin with an arm across the younger girl's chest, "You owe these boys an explanation."

"I don't owe them anything about this!" she hissed back.

"What about that time you stayed out in the rain all night and made yourself sick, and Alan covered for you by saying it was his idea?"

Tin-tin's expression became puzzled, "How did you—"

"You forget that I've been here since before the boys were born."

"Yeah, but that was only a few months after Gordon's accident. Wouldn't you have been with him?"

"Actually, I was tied most strongly to Alan at the time. After the first month, where I was nearly split into a dozen Kalypsos, you needed me more, Alan. I was with Gordon and your brothers and father for a major part of my days, but I was with you for the rest. I'm drawn by emotional pain, not physical pain. But my point is, Tin-tin, if you don't explain, I will, and it would be much better coming from you. In case you haven't noticed, I didn't really exist until about an hour ago."

"Kalypso, I don't know how to tell them."

"T-tell us what?" Fermat asked.

Kalypso smiled, twisting her liquid cream hair up into a knot on the back of her head, "Tell them as you guys head to the satellite station. That is where you're headed, right? I need to relieve myself, but I will meet you there. If I'm not there in half an hour, assume that I was needed on Thunderbird 5."

Tin-tin glared at Kalypso, but complied. She turned and lead the boys on, saying, "Okay, the first thing you need to know is something my father told me a long time ago. The powers are not evil in and of themselves, and the person who wields them is just as every other human, neither black or white. Father and I don't use our powers often, because they are both physically and mentally draining."

That was the last Kalypso heard as she disappeared into the bushes. The three were in no immediate danger, and she could afford to take a much-needed break for a few minutes. What she really needed was some sleep, but that wasn't about to happen. None of the family was working off of much sleep, having not returned to bed after the rescue in Russia had been called in that morning. And Alan was still on Massachusetts time. He and Fermat had come close to crossing the date line, with jet-lag on top of that.

Finishing up, she looked above her. She had chosen this spot for a reason, and had been lucky enough to be dropped near it. The trees on Tracy Island were mostly palm, with no branches below ten feet in the air. Years before, when the Tracys had first move out to the island, Kalypso had fashioned a rope of sorts and a path for getting into the treetops. The major dangers of the island were confined to the forest floor, and the crown of the forest was an ideal way of traversing the island quickly.

She did so. It had been a while since she had last climbed this way, but the muscle memory was still there. She had been spending much more time with Alan as of late, away from the jungles of his home.

When she made it to the top, she could see the perimeter of the entire island. Her connection to Alan was leading her further south than she would have liked, because the path Tin-tin was following meandered in that direction for a while. If Fermat, Tin-tin, and Alan continued at their present place, Kalypso would beat them to the satellite relay station, and that was just fine with her. She could look around, and make sure that the Hood hadn't anticipated their movements.

Enjoying the rare feeling of being able to move about of her own accord, Kalypso scaled the treetops until she reached the fake palm set at the highest topographical point on the island. The rocks surrounding the tree were different than the other felsic igneous rocks that outcropped all over the island. Whereas the granite produced by the long-dormant volcano was covered in some places by a crust of dark basalt, these boulders were aphanitic, obviously plutonic rhyolite. They had been brought up when the caverns under the island had been hollowed out to make room for the Thunderbird silos.

Dropping down from the treetops, Kalypso searched the ground for signs of any human presence. There was none.

Alan was still badgering Tin-tin with questions when the three teenagers arrived ten minutes later.

"So what's it like? Being in someone else's head?"

Tin-tin looked decidedly uncomfortable, so Kalypso stepped in, "Alan, that's enough. Let the poor girl breathe. Now, Fermat, do you think you can hack the satellite?" She felt herself fading, "Alan, I'm going back up to Thunderbird 5 now. Is there anything—"

He turned to her, "Why? What's going on? Is someone hurt?"

"I don't know. Give me ten minutes, and then try to need me. I don't know if this will work, as I've never been summoned voluntarily before. But we'll have to give it a shot. Fermat, get that connection up!" By the end of it, she was shouting, but to Alan it sounded like she was whispering.

%%%%%

Scott was coughing his lungs out when she rematerialized, "The heat exchange's blown!" he exclaimed between coughs.

"You don't say," Jeff remarked sardonically as he and Gordon supported Scott away from the site of the explosion.

"Is everyone alright?" Kalypso asked.

"We're fine," Gordon said.

"Is Alan alright?" Kalypso's gaze was drawn to Jeff. The Tracy patriarch did not look fine, but he did not look injured, either.

"He's fine. I left them at the satellite relay station, so you should be able to talk to them soon. How's our oxygen situation?"

"Not good. We haven't much to spare. Someone forgot to replace the canisters after the last time we needed them," Virgil glared at Gordon.

"I didn't mean to!"

"Still happened, though, didn't it?"

"Virgil, leave your brother alone," Jeff ordered, "This is not the time for fighting. Kalypso, what's going on down there? Is Alan safe?"

"For the moment. The Hood thinks the kids are dead, so they're going to return their attention to robbing the Bank of London."

"If Fermat is hacking the satellite feed," she loved how sharp John's mind was, even when he was hurt, "Then the Hood is going to figure out exactly where they are. Can you not warn them, Kalypso?"

She shook her head, "I have to let the events fall where they may. I am here to provide a presence, not directly interfere. I've already done more than I should."

"You will continue, though, won't you?" John asked, "To protect Alan?"

Kalypso took his chin in her hand, forcing him to look her in the eyes. He had the same eyes as his mother, she remembered with a start, "I am here to protect this family, always and forever, just the way that Lucy would have wanted me to. She was my best friend, John, and I would honour her dying wish even if I had not been bound to you."

"She never mentioned you," Jeff breathed.

Kalypso reached behind her and took his hand, "Yes, she did. You never met her cousin Calla, did you Jeff?"

"No, but Lucy used to talk about her."

"You never met her because she never existed in the first place. Lucy and I came up with Calla so that she could talk to you and her boys about me. She knew that one day, her boys would meet me, and they would need something to fall back on."

"I remember Aunt Calla," Virgil whispered, "Now it makes sense why Mum was never angry that she never met us."

"Au contraire, Virgil, Lucy was furious that you never met me."

"Dad!" A voice emanated from a speaker near John, cutting off conversations that were veering dangerously close to topics that need not be breeched. It was Alan, finally making contact with his father and brothers.

"It's Alan!"

It was all Kalypso could do not to say 'duh.'

"No, it's your other brother trapped on an island with a raving lunatic."

"Shut up, Kalypso," four people told her in unison.

John pulled up Alan's face on the monitor.

"Dad!"

"Alan!" Jeff cried, "Are you three alright?"

"Yes, we're at the satellite relay station. Fermat's trying to hack in to the main computer system to give control of Thunderbird 5 back to you." The boys around Kalypso grinned.

"We're standing by."

She heard Fermat's voice, barely picked up by the receiver, "Okay, we're almost there."

A beeping started, "They're onto us! We're being jammed!" Fermat cried.

"Can you finish?" Alan's face turned away from the monitor for a moment.

"I'll try!"

"Alan, what's happening?" Jeff demanded.

"Hang in there, Dad, one more minute, okay?" He looked back towards Fermat, worry written on his face.

"It's not going to work, Alan. The signal's too weak for data transmission!"

"Dad, can you hear me? They're jamming our signal! We're going to lose you. Don't worry, I'll take care of everything, okay?"

"That's a negative!" Jeff exclaimed, "It's too dangerous. Follow emergency procedures. Wait for Lady Penelope at the rendezvous point. Alan, can you read me? Alan!"

"Dad!"

"Alan, we're losing you! Alan!"

"Dad!"

The monitor cut out, leaving the five Tracys and Kalypso staring at a black screen.

They leaned back, breathing heavily and exchanging scared glances.

"Do you think he'll listen?" Virgil asked no one in particular.

"No way in hell. This is Alan Tracy we're talking about," John told his immediate younger brother, "Alan Tracy personifies stubbornness."

"All of you do," Kalypso muttered, "You should have seen yourselves as babies."

Jeff let out a short, barking laugh, "You've got that right."

"What were you like when you were younger, Kalypso?" John asked out of the blue.

"Headstrong, my mother used to say. It runs in my family. It's the only way we could survive being presences," she paused, "And now this presence is needed elsewhere. I'll be back, boys."


End file.
